MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced he has picked Miguel Angel Maciel to be his next energy minister, less than a year before the end of his six-year government, he wrote in a Monday post on social media. Maciel will replace Rocio Nahle, who served as energy chief and chair of the board of state-owned oil company Pemex since the beginning of Lopez Obrador's term in late 2018. Maciel has previously served as deputy energy minister, and Lopez Obrador stressed in his post on X that the petroleum engineer by training is trusted "due to his honesty and proven convictions in favor of national sovereignty." Nahle formally left her job as minister before the president's most important energy infrastructure project, the Olmeca oil refinery in his home state Tabasco, has come online. Lopez Obrador tasked Nahle with overseeing the project, which is running behind schedule and over budget.

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Persons: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Miguel Angel Maciel, Maciel, Rocio Nahle, Lopez, Nahle, Lopez Obrador, Noe Torres, Stefanie Eschenbacher, Valentine Hilaire Organizations: MEXICO CITY Locations: MEXICO, Veracruz, Tabasco, Dos Bocas, Houston, wean Mexico